AN: So, I was writing this chapter and the strangest thing occurred to me. I set out with the goal of just hitting 80K words. Here I am over 1.5 times that! And I honestly didn't expect this many people to be reading it, so I want to say thanks to all of you. It wouldn't be the same without you.
Fahiil
Thera
The Dawnguard troops glared at me distrustfully in this secondary defensible fort. They were showing me around, though it was with a begrudging sense of duty and thinly veiled hatred rather than the amity afforded an ally in a nearly hopeless war. Ostensibly, I was going to remain there for the day before beginning my travels to the Bow that night. In actuality?
These Dawnguard had been holding onto the Ring of Erudite. Apparently, they did not understand what a powerful artifact they had in their hands, a weapon with barely understood power even amongst Harkon's more studious followers. Most of the warriors were Nords, though, so I could blame their stupidity on natural human ignorance, much like those I had slowly purged from Harkon's retinue.
It was widely known what I had been doing, though Harkon did not seem to care in the slightest. The Court, as he often noted, was built on power and revenge. If Fura Bloodmouth had actually crossed me, she should have had the strength and foresight to defend herself. If not, she should have expected an attack. Besides, I brought in much more... useful followers in my travels. One of the Companions soon to enter the Circle, one of Lucius' most trusted followers. And then, there's Enthir, the fidgety fence from the College. Both had bowed to the Blood and both were incredibly useful, and would remain so. Those two were part of a... group I had secretly been maintaining for use at my future discretion. There were others, lesser but strong nonetheless, that served Harkon, too. Should they survive the coming war, they would also be useful pawns.
"And this is the room where you'll be staying. We'll have someone come wake you at dusk," the warrior muttered, already yawning. Most of the Dawnguard had come to adopt the sleeping schedule of their prey, or of their predator depending on who you asked, which ironically meant that the daylight hours were the safest for a Vampire planning on secretly murdering an entire group of soldiers. He motioned for the soldiers following him to stand guard outside the door and I smiled, the image of graciousness. He merely scowled in response. "Good day." And then slammed the door shut in my face.
I let the smile fall into a scowl of distaste. "Humans," I muttered quietly enough that the guards wouldn't hear. Besides, mortals were born to live in the sun. To do otherwise, for too long, it made them tired. Vampires were much the same, though our presence in the shadows had the tendency to wake us up even in the brightest day. Mortals, humans, did not get woken up by their vaunted sunlight. They drifted ever closer to sleep, regardless of whatever attempts they made to stave off their natural sleep cycle.
It was only a few short hours later that I began to hear the quiet snores of the two guards outside of my room, the two unconscious and, soon, to be sleeping for eternity. I bared my fangs and drew a small, iron dagger from my hip while I slowly opened the wooden door. Sometimes, these humans seemed like utter morons who couldn't stand a chance in a battle against a housecat. And, yet, there were the examples to the contrary. My Jokaar, my mirror who was my equal and opposite in every way. A shrewd mind turned towards a fool's pursuit; a warrior who tamed the cunning, deadly art opposite my own; a blunt, transparent fool whose intelligence just made him dangerous enough to watch with wary eyes.
As I tore my jaws from the throat of the second guard, I sighed. Why couldn't my opposite be like these fools? Then I laughed to myself – I would never hope for such a thing. To conquer only the weak, to force only the timid to submit? That was the mark of a brute. To make kings, gods, and Dragonborn submit? That was the mark of an Empress. Though, what was the fun in destroying strong enemies if you couldn't bully the weak ones every so often?
I released the man and watched as he struggled with the Magick now coursing through his veins, through his mind. I watched as his mind was slowly torn apart and rebuilt from nothing, his soul being drowned out by the intense power of domination present within every Vampire's veins and bite. It took almost three seconds – more than average – to enthrall the human. I then sent him to begin the systematic assassination of all his peers even as I marched my way up to the main room of the local Dawnguard Commander, not the foolish child who had greeted me when I had arrived.
The leader of this particular set of Dawnguard was an old guard member, one of the first to join up with Isran, apparently. A Bosmer woman who was, sadly, deep set in her ways. A Spy amongst their numbers would have been of such use to me, though there was time for that later. I doubted that vengeance or rage amongst all of the elite would outweigh the promise of Eternity, Man or Mer.
I drew my twin blades just outside of the main room's door, raising my foot and kicking the wooden barrier into splinters. "What in Oblivion!?" the Bosmer shouted, drawing that same ax that they all carried, a relic of an older time, perhaps. While she spun wildly, defensively, her yellow eyes eventually met my bloody orbs, her gaze quickly ignited with a fiery rage as it clashed against mine. "You know, with all this talk of alliance, I was worried I wouldn't get a chance to kill you."
"I never worried I wouldn't get to kill all of you," I responded simply. I twirled my blades then let them dangle at my sides before walking into the room. I shut the pitiful remainders of the door and grinned, a feral thing. I twirled the blades lazily, now, really only half-holding the weapon.
I have to admit: I missed this. Fighting against Dwemer and Lamae was an... interesting change of pace. If by interesting, one meant painful and rage inducing then, yes, interesting. Fighting against one of these, a simple, weak mortal was much more enjoyable. It afforded me certain benefits, such as not breaking a sweat and supplying a much needed bath... in blood. I barely even had to react to deflect the first clumsy blow!
I sighed to drive the point home and set my second sword down, letting it lean against the wall. While I did this, the woman continued her assault with the ax, bringing smashing blows down upon me. I deflected each with little difficulty, without actually even looking at the Bosmer attacking me. I stood up straight, still blocking the metal slab rushing clumsily towards my skull. "Just! Die!" she screamed between blows that glanced off of my sword. Stone and metal clashed against each other, one or the other shattering little by little as they collided.
"This is fun!" I mentioned with a wild grin, deflecting another blow wide and into the wall. The woman snarled and tried to pass my defenses. I let her and spun around the blow, rolling over the desk in the center of the room. As I landed on one leg, I lashed out with the other and the heavy wooden table slid into the Bosmer woman turning towards me. She grunted in pain and surprise as the desk crashed into her legs, pinning her against the wall. My sword slid down to the ground of the empty area beneath the desk, setting down next to her feet. "Oh, I'd tell you that you were close... but I can't lie that well."
"Damnnable Bitch!" the woman screamed. She struggled uselessly against the desk.
"Not strong enough?" I asked as I turned to the chest nearby and picked the lock. It sprang open with a quiet spring and I grabbed the Ring from within. "Well, soon you won't be alive enough."
The woman's eyes widened as I stalked towards her, leaving my blade at her throat. She glanced up at the ceiling, her eyes glassy. "I... 'Did you know any strong man around?'"
"What?" I asked, dropping my blade slightly. I shook my head and snarled. "Doesn't matter." I buried my blade in her chest.
The Bosmer woman gurgled and laughed, sending flecks of blood onto my face. "'Oh, come'on... don't go away mad...'"
Then she died.
"It is done, Mistress," my Thrall said with a bow as he approached the shattered door. "There are none left."
"Good," I replied, still staring at the Bosmer woman. I pulled my sword from her chest and bent down to pick the other up. "But not quite."
I stood up and saw the Thrall nodding. "Of course, Mistress," he said, pulling out a knife and jamming it into his own throat.
I smiled. "Now, it is done," I said, wiping blood off of my face and licking it off my fingers.
Jul
Lucius
I fidgeted with the Runic Shield strapped across my back; it felt unnatural to have the weight across my back. Even back when I was an assassin-slave, I didn't use a shield in battle. They were heavy, unwieldy... slabs of metal. I knew people who could fight amazingly with them, but I was not one of those people. But still, having it strapped across my back made me feel good. We were, yet again, one step closer to being able to defeat Lamae Bal. To getting other people to resist her angry control.
No one was clear just yet on why I could, of course. Even still, they couldn't tell. It wasn't the gifts of the Divines present in the weapons that were present also in me; despite being Dragonborn, god chosen, Thera was just as weak against the power of the first Vampire as any other being on Nirn. I had a few theories about it – possibilities of what it could be. Until I knew for sure that it was actually Dwemer who was the other that had resisted Lamae's domination, I couldn't actually support any of my theories.
Anyways, Serana and I were on the road, traveling between the location of the Shield and where the Runic Hammer was hidden away. She was telling me some joke, or I was telling her some joke. We were laughing. It was a good time. A happy time. "That was good, really," I said, still laughing slightly, shoving her shoulder lightly and earning a shove in my ribs from her shoulder in return. Given her above-mortal strength, I felt it like a nudge even through my armor.
"Oh, like you could do any better?" she retorted, faux anger in her response.
"I've told you better jokes than that a thousand times," I replied. "Face it – I'm funnier than you are."
"In your dreams," Serana jabbed.
I snorted. In a completely serious, I said, "You are my dreams."
Serana froze for a moment, then scoffed and slapped my shoulder. "I had you going for a second there, didn't I?" I said, holding back laughter.
"I – wait. What's that?" Serana said, the smile disappearing from her face. She drew her dagger and glared out into the wilderness around us. Her head snapped to one side. "It's coming from over there."
"What?" I asked, drawing my sword as well. "In case you forgot, I don't exactly have Vampire hearing, Serana."
She didn't respond, just staring off into the distance. "There's... someone? Someone's over there," Serana finally said. She took off, sprinting past the treeline before I could react.
"Yep. Just... leave me behind," I muttered to myself, not quite sure if she could hear me. I sighed and took off running, my path crashing much more loudly through the trees than Serana's feather-footed sprint had. I could barely see her in the shadows, and her path wasn't the easiest to follow. As I neared, however, even I could hear someone else running from Serana.
Right into me.
Despite the fact that the person was only a girl – eh, maybe young woman is a better approximation – I still tumbled over. She had been moving incredibly fast, running for her life, when she'd crashed into me. On top of that, she had jumped from an outcropping of rocks nearby and just about clotheslined me. "Ah, no! No! Let me go, Vampire!" she screamed, her voice... familiar.
I grunted, more from annoyance than pain, as her fists slammed into me. If the young woman had been eating regularly for the past few weeks, I have no doubt that they would hurt. "Stop!" I growled, grabbing one of the open palms as it came towards me. My eyes widened as the wall of attacks ceased. "Wait... Dorthe! Dorthe, it's me! It's Luc – the Dragonborn!"
She stopped struggling against my grip. "Luc..? Luc!" she shouted, hugging me. I pushed myself up and hugged her back. "Luc, there's a Vampire chasing me!"
"Let me guess. Six feet tall, black hair, stunningly gorgeous?" I asked. I sighed. "She's not trying to hurt you. In fact, she's a friend."
The young woman pushed off of me and stared in horror. In the time since I'd seen her last – a short while before her twelfth year began more than six months ago – she'd become hollow. Her ribs were showing from beneath her tattered clothes and emaciated skin, with scars and scabs visible on much of the other skin showing. Rashes, infections. She was sick. And obviously even less of a fan of Vampires than Isran himself.
I glanced up, just past the young woman, when Serana ran through the trees. Her eyes widened when she saw her quarry and the dagger disappeared into its sheathe. "It's a kid?" she mouthed, horrified. I nodded and looked down at Dorthe again.
"Dorthe... I – I found your father," I told her softly.
Her eyes lit up for a moment. "He... is he okay?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes.
My breath caught as I began speaking. "He is... Dorthe, I'm sorry, but your father is dead."
"Did he at least..." she began, holding herself together. She was a strong girl. "Did he at least die human?"
I sighed. Physically, no. But spiritually? Mentally? "He died a Man. His last words were a plea that I find you. That you know how much he loves you," I finally said, earning an unsure look from Serana, but a sad, thankful smile from Dorthe. I doubted this... this half-truth would ever come out, though perhaps she could learn when she was strong enough. It hurt my conscience a little too much, though. "Though he had turned. He fought. Held on to who he was."
Dorthe's head fell. "... And my mother?"
I put my hand on her shoulder and raised her gaze to mine. "I'm sorry. I have not found her yet," I said. I started to speak, then let my mouth shut. "Hadvar lives. He waits for you, in Solitude."
Serana nodded. "We'll get you there," she said, already reading my mind. She smiled sadly at the young woman who stared distrustfully at her. Serana shrugged. "I can personally guarantee your safety. Hey, I'll even stay thirty steps ahead of you and Luc if that's what it takes. We'll get you there."
Dorthe glanced between me and her. Finally: "Do you have any food?"
I laughed dryly. "Of course. Let's make camp," I replied, summoning a stream of fire to my hand. "We'll get you some chicken – or fish? Eh, let's have both! This is time for a celebration, finding you."
